I have someone who wants to tour there.
I don’t know anything about the area.
Please help me out.
Thanks.
Ravines. Killer reviews on their dry Riesling and Keith Levenberg wrote a glowing review of their 08 Pinot Noir.
Point 'em to Evan Dawson’s book.
Mort is doing some pretty great stuff up in dem dare hillz!
Ravines is very good, and if you stay on Keuka then Heron Hill and Dr. frank are worth the visit.
On Seneca, Weimer is a can’t miss, my favorite in the region.
And Heart & Hands/Knapp are worth a trip if they head over to Cayuga.
I agree with Keith to check out Evan Dawson’s book Summer in a Glass. He goes into detail about a few wineries and does a great job giving you a back story of how/why they came about and their vision for FL wines. It focuses on mainly these guys:
Hearts and Hands Winery - Cayuga Lake
Hermann Wiemer - Seneca Lake
Red Tail Ridge- Seneca Lake
Red Newt- Seneca Lake
Ravines- Keuka Lake
Dr. Frank- Keuka Lake
I have been to all except Hearts and Hands (I will change that this summer) and can tell you that you will not be disappointed. Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Cab Franc, and some sparklers are generally the main standouts, although I also like many of the meritage blends.
I think Evan also talks about a few others(most of those below) and I would also say that you would want to check out:
Lamoreaux Landing- Seneca Lake (many single vineyard Rieslings and a nice Sparkler)
Knapp Winery- Seneca (again, great dry riesling)
Damiani Wine Cellars- Seneca (Some really good reds, esp the 08’s
The best thing to do is order the book…you will be booking places to stay after reading it
Mike
What Mike said, and Mike before him. Evan’s book is a great read even if you don’t care about FL wines.
+5
Wiemer is my favorite.
Yeah, Red tail Ridge had some nice wines as well when we went last year…I forgot the name. Their pinot was probably my second favorite. Heart and Hands are doing a pretty damn good job with the grape. I;m looking forward to my trip in June to go see them again.
Red Newt is the only one on that list I don’t think i have been to, maybe I need to remedy that!
Lamaroux Landing is pretty solid. Damiani has been inconsistent in my opinion. the first year we went there, maybe 3 years ago, the lineup was very strong, especially reds. But subsequent tastings haven’t been as good.
Staying on the east side of Seneca I think Rob at Shalestone makes very nice reds and is very nice. We also had a great visit at Silver Thread, good wines and biodynamic, which is unique for the region.
I’m counting down the days until my next visit.
Side note, for food they have to go to Dano’s. A must stop for me, we always sit outside and watch the sunset over Seneca with a bottle of gewurz with their Austrian food.
Mike, I agree with you on the Pinot from Red Tail Ridge…I ended up picking up a couple of bottles of that along with their Rose’ when I visited last winter. I really recommend Red Newt (they have an amazing bistro as well). They have a wide range of riesling’s and gewurtz and I have a few bottles of theirs tucked away downstairs…I am really interested to see how they age. Their tasting room staff was really great as well and let us taste pretty much whatever we wanted.
I will def have to check out Shalestone and Silver Thread when I head back out their in July. Dano’s sounds like a winner as well…I am a slut for gewurtz. Thanks for the info
Lamoreaux Landing is my personal favorite with a solid range from top to bottom and the only one making a worthwhile sparkler in the region IMO.
Wiemer gets my vote. Their 08’ Magdalena Vineyard Dry Riesling is a favorite of mine.
Wiemer and Lamoreaux, quite keen on them.
I appreciate all of you.
Thanks.
I like Wiemer as well along with Standing Stone. The actually have a really nice Chardonnay out there along with there other wines.
Hearts and Hands Winery for Pinot Noir